EDC 102 Research: How Much Does My District Spend on Education?
What is the question?
How much does my district spend on education? Where do these funds actually go? How does my district's spending compare to the average spending per pupil for districts across the state?
What does this question mean?
There can be wide discrepancies in how much school districts choose to spend on their students. Though local accounting procedures often make it difficult to compare districts, Rhode Island has in place ways to draw these comparisons.
Why might this question be useful in a context report?
It might be useful to include spending information in your description of your district, and to determine whether their overall performance correlates with their investment.
Where did you look for answers for this question?
The "District Reports" section of the Information Works! site has data on how much each district spends on each pupil, and where that money goes.
For Example...
1. Go to the Information Works! Site and choose the "District Reports" option.
2. Choose your district, and scroll down to choose the "Per-pupil Expenditures" report.
3. At the top of this report, you will find two bar graphs. The first compares the district's total expenditures for all programs with the average expenditures per pupil of all the districts in the state. The second bar graph shows the same comparison for just the general education (i.e. education excluding special ed and vocational education).
4. If you scroll down to the bar graphs at the bottom of the page, the district's spending on other programs such as special education and vocational education are shown added to the base spending on general education.
5. Possible statement:
As a district, East Providence's spending on schools is consistent with Rhode Island state averages. For total spending per pupil, East Providence spends $12,080, compared to the state average of $12,700. For general education, the district spends slightly less than the state average, ($8600 compared to $9400). In terms of specific programs, East Providence spends slightly more than the state on English Learners, ($5300 compared to $4700). Overall, East Providence's school spending is very similar to the state's average.(Information Works : Rhode Island Public Schools, 2008)
The bibliographical reference will look like this: Information Works : Rhode Island Public Schools. (2008). National Center for Public Education and Social Policy. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/pdf/ds-insite-bar/10d-expb.pdf.
EDC 102 Research: How Much Does My District Spend on Education?
What is the question?
How much does my district spend on education? Where do these funds actually go? How does my district's spending compare to the average spending per pupil for districts across the state?What does this question mean?
There can be wide discrepancies in how much school districts choose to spend on their students. Though local accounting procedures often make it difficult to compare districts, Rhode Island has in place ways to draw these comparisons.Why might this question be useful in a context report?
It might be useful to include spending information in your description of your district, and to determine whether their overall performance correlates with their investment.Where did you look for answers for this question?
The "District Reports" section of the Information Works! site has data on how much each district spends on each pupil, and where that money goes.For Example...
1. Go to the Information Works! Site and choose the "District Reports" option.2. Choose your district, and scroll down to choose the "Per-pupil Expenditures" report.
4. If you scroll down to the bar graphs at the bottom of the page, the district's spending on other programs such as special education and vocational education are shown added to the base spending on general education.
As a district, East Providence's spending on schools is consistent with Rhode Island state averages. For total spending per pupil, East Providence spends $12,080, compared to the state average of $12,700. For general education, the district spends slightly less than the state average, ($8600 compared to $9400). In terms of specific programs, East Providence spends slightly more than the state on English Learners, ($5300 compared to $4700). Overall, East Providence's school spending is very similar to the state's average.(Information Works : Rhode Island Public Schools, 2008)
The bibliographical reference will look like this:
Information Works : Rhode Island Public Schools. (2008). National Center for Public Education and Social Policy. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/pdf/ds-insite-bar/10d-expb.pdf.